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United States Patent |
6,039,431
|
Yui
,   et al.
|
March 21, 2000
|
Printer head cleaning device for ink jet printer
Abstract
A printer head cleaning device for ink jet printers, having a case body
with a receiving portion for receiving a printer head, and a sucking
portion for carrying out suction of ink from the printer head. The
receiving portion comprises a contact portion in contact with the
injection or jet nozzle of the printer head. The sucking portion comprises
a supply portion for applying negative pressure to the contact portion.
When negative pressure is applied to the receiving portion, suction of ink
existing within the injection or jet nozzle is carried out. Because a
water-holding member is provided, drying of the injection or jet nozzle is
prevented. The cleaning device also can select suction operation and can
control the continuous suction operation and strength of the suction
force, thereby making it possible to carry out cleaning of the printer
head.
Inventors:
|
Yui; Yasuji (Kanagawa, JP);
Kagami; Toshiki (Tokyo, JP)
|
Assignee:
|
Sony Corporation (JP)
|
Appl. No.:
|
945542 |
Filed:
|
October 29, 1997 |
PCT Filed:
|
February 27, 1997
|
PCT NO:
|
PCT/JP97/00590
|
371 Date:
|
October 29, 1997
|
102(e) Date:
|
October 29, 1997
|
PCT PUB.NO.:
|
WO97/31780 |
PCT PUB. Date:
|
September 4, 1997 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Feb 29, 1996[JP] | P8-043557 |
Current U.S. Class: |
347/30; 347/31 |
Intern'l Class: |
B41J 002/165 |
Field of Search: |
347/30,108,29,31,22-24,36,85
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
5373936 | Dec., 1994 | Kawai et al. | 347/30.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
60-71259 | Apr., 1985 | JP.
| |
3-205154 | Sep., 1991 | JP.
| |
6-305160 | Jan., 1994 | JP.
| |
6-286157 | Nov., 1994 | JP.
| |
7-89096 | Apr., 1995 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Le; N.
Assistant Examiner: Nguyen; Judy
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Rader, Fishman & Grauer, Kananen; Ronald P.
Claims
We claim:
1. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer comprising:
a case body;
a receiving portion provided at the case body and adapted for receiving a
printer head; and
a sucking portion, also provided at said case body and attached to said
receiving portion, adapted for carrying out suction of ink from the
printer head received at the receiving portion;
wherein the device further comprises a cover body rotatably provided at the
case body, and an insertion portion also provided at the cover body and
inserted into a receiving hole of the printer head.
2. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer as set forth in
claim 1,
wherein the receiving portion comprises a contact portion in contact with
an injection or jet nozzle of the printer head received at the receiving
portion, and the sucking portion comprises a supply portion for applying
negative pressure to the contact portion.
3. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer as set forth in
claim 2,
wherein the contact portion is comprised of a water-holding member in
contact with the injection or jet nozzle of the printer head received at
the receiving portion.
4. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer as set forth in
claim 2,
wherein the device further comprises an input section for selecting suction
operation of the sucking portion and a control section for controlling the
operation of the sucking portion on the basis of input from the input
section.
5. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer as set forth in
claim 4,
wherein the control section controls at least continuous suction operation
and strength of suction force of the sucking portion on the basis of input
from the input section.
6. A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer as set forth in
claim 1,
wherein the device further comprises a detecting section attached to said
case body, for detecting opening/closing operations of the cover body, and
a control section, attached to said case body and electrically connected
to said detecting section, for controlling the operation of the sucking
portion on the basis of input from the detecting section.
Description
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning the printer head
of the ink jet printer, and more particularly to a device for cleaning the
injection or jet nozzle of the printer head.
2. Background Art
Hitherto, there have been used ink jet printers of the on demand system
adapted for injecting ink for printing from the injection or jet nozzle of
the printer head to record, as visible information, recording information
onto a recording medium such as paper or film, etc. The ink jet printer of
the on demand system is adapted to print recording information sent from
the computer in accordance with a request from the computer.
Meanwhile, at office, etc., preparation of documents using computer called
desk top publishing is carried out. In this preparation of documents, it
is required to print not only characters or graphics, but also color
natural pictures (picture images) such as photograph, etc. along with
characters or graphics.
In this case, in order to print the natural picture (picture image) at high
grade, it is necessary to faithfully reproduce intermediate color in
accordance with recording information.
The ink jet printer is adapted to apply pressure onto ink, e.g., by
deformation of piezo element to inject the ink as ink droplet from the
injection or jet nozzle of the printer head. Quality of picture (picture
image) printed by this printer depends upon the number of dots per unit
area formed by ink droplet injected or blown out from the injection or jet
nozzle. In order to obtain high quality picture, it is necessary to thin
the diameter of the injecting holes of the injection nozzle down to the
size of several 10 .mu.m. When the injecting holes are caused to be small,
ink clogging is caused to easily take place at the injection nozzle.
In order to eliminate such ink clogging in the injection nozzle, it is
necessary at the ink jet printer of this kind to regularly carry out
cleaning to conduct elimination of ink clogged within the injection or jet
nozzle. In addition, it is necessary to regularly fill ink necessary for
print.
In view of the above, in the ink jet printer of this kind, there is
provided a mechanism for carrying out cleaning of the injection nozzle and
for carrying out filling of ink.
In the conventional ink jet printer, since the space that the mechanism for
carrying out cleaning of the injection or jet nozzle or filling of ink
occupies is large, the printer itself is caused to be large. Moreover,
since there is such a necessity to carry out regular cleaning of the
injection nozzle and/or control of filling of ink, the operation in
printing recording information sent from the computer becomes complicated.
Further, since ink used in the ink jet printer is in liquid state, it is
necessary for maintaining ink in the liquid state at all times without
solidifying ink to allow the injection nozzle of the printer head to be in
wet state at all times. In order to allow the injection nozzle to be in
wet state as stated above, it is necessary to detach the printer head from
the printer when the printer is not used to store it within a storage
vessel adapted so that drying is prevented.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a printer head cleaning device
capable of eliminating the problems that the conventional ink jet printer
has.
Another object of this invention is to provide a printer head cleaning
device capable of easily cleaning the injection or jet nozzle of the
printer head.
A further object of this invention is to provide a printer head cleaning
device capable of preventing drying of the injection or jet nozzle of the
printer head without allowing the printer itself to be large.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a printer head
cleaning device which can be used as a vessel for storage of the printer
head independent of the printer.
A printer head cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to this
invention proposed in order to attain objects as described above
comprises, at a case body, a receiving portion for receiving a printer
head, and a sucking portion for carrying out suction of ink from the
printer head received at the receiving portion.
In this case, the receiving portion comprises a contact portion in contact
with the injection or jet nozzle of the printer head. The sucking portion
comprises a supply portion for applying negative pressure to the contact
portion. Negative pressure is applied to the receiving portion, whereby
suction of ink existing within the injection or jet nozzle caused to be in
contact with the contact portion is carried out.
Water-holding member is provided at the contact portion, whereby drying of
the injection or jet nozzle of the printer head received at the receiving
portion is prevented.
The printer head cleaning device for ink jet printer further comprises an
input section for selecting sucking operation of the sucking portion and a
control section for controlling the operation of the sucking portion on
the basis of input from the input section. This control section controls
at least continuous sucking operation and strength of suction force of the
sucking portion on the basis of input from the input section.
The printer head cleaning device for ink jet printer further comprises a
cover body rotatably provided at the case body, and an insertion portion
provided at the cover body and adapted to be inserted into the supply hole
of the printer head. This device further comprises a detecting section for
detecting opening/closing operation of the cover body, and a control
section for controlling the operation of the sucking portion on the basis
of input from the detecting section.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view showing a printer head cleaning
device for ink jet printer according to this invention, wherein the state
where the cover body is opened is shown.
FIG. 2 is a side cross sectional view of the state where the cover body is
closed of the device.
FIG. 3 is a front cross sectional view of the state where the cover body is
closed of the device.
FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram showing the control system of the printer
head cleaning device for ink jet printer according to this invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of a printer head cleaning device for ink jet printer
according to this invention will now be described with reference to the
attached drawings.
The printer head cleaning device for ink jet printer according to this
invention comprises a case body 1 formed by using synthetic resin material
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. At this case body 1, there is provided a cover
body 2 formed so as to take a form of parallelepiped and for opening or
closing an opening portion 1a constituted at the upper surface side. This
cover body 2 is adapted so that one side of the base end portion side
thereof is rotatably attached at one side of the case body 1 upper end
side through a hinge portion 3. As this cover body 2, it is sufficient to
employ a cover body which can be rotatably supported with respect to the
case body 1. Various rotational supporting mechanisms may be used.
Within the case body 1, a waste liquid chamber 4 is provided at the bottom
portion side thereof. Ink sucked from the printer head is stored within
this waste liquid chamber 4. At the opening portion 1a side which is the
upper surface side within the case body 1, an ink sucking portion 6 having
an ink sucking hole 5 is provided. Within the ink sucking hole 5, a
water-holding member 7 formed by material having water-holding property
such as polyurethane foam or felt, etc. is disposed in such a manner that
it is filled. In this case, as described later, the ink sucking hole 5
constitutes a receiving portion by which the printer head of the ink jet
printer can be received, and the upper surface side of the water-holding
member 7 functions as a contact portion of the printer head. At this time,
the water-holding member 7 is disposed in the state positioned within the
ink sucking hole 5 in a manner substantially flush with the upper end side
of the ink sucking hole 5 or surrounded by the peripheral wall of the ink
sucking hole 5. Namely, there is employed such a configuration for the
purpose of allowing ink sucked from the printer head to be securely sucked
into the ink sucking hole 5 without being scattered toward the outside of
the ink sucking hole 5.
Between the ink sucking portion 6 and the waste liquid chamber 4, a hollow
tubular connecting tube is connected. This connecting tube constitutes a
suction passage 8 of ink sucked by the ink sucking portion 6. In the
middle of the suction passage 8, a suction pump 9 is provided. The suction
pump 9 is driven by a motor 10. This motor 10 is caused to undergo drive
control by a motor drive control circuit section 12 controlled by a
control circuit section 11 to drive the suction pump 9. A contact type
detecting switch 13 for detecting opening/closing state of the cover body
2 is connected to the motor drive control circuit section 12.
At the upper end side of a front wall 1c opposite to a back face wall 1b
for rotatably supporting the cover body 2 of the case body 1, there is
attached a holding spring 16 constituting the lock mechanism which is
relatively engaged with an engagement portion 15 provided at the cover
body 2 rotated at the position where it closes the opening portion 1a of
the case body 1 to thereby lock the cover body 2 at a closing position.
On the other hand, at the internal side of the cover body 2 and at the
upper side of the top plate 2a side, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a
cartridge accommodating portion 17 is provided. An ink cartridge 18 within
which various color inks such as yellow, magenta, green or black, etc. are
filled is detachably fitted in order to permit color printing with respect
to the cartridge accommodating portion 17. At the lower surface side of
the ink cartridge 18, there is provided an ink supply hole 21 for
supplying ink filled within the ink cartridge 18 to the printer head as
described later.
Further, at the cartridge accommodating portion 17, there are provided
plural pressing springs 19 for pressing and supporting the upper surface
side of the ink cartridge 18, and a pair of supporting springs 20 abated
to be held with respect to the corner portions of the lower end side
opposite to each other of the ink cartridge 18 to carry out supporting of
the ink cartridge 18. The pressing springs 19 are attached along the inner
surface of a top plate 2a of the cover body 2, and the supporting springs
20 are attached along the inside surfaces of a back face wall 2b and a
front face wall 2c opposite to each other of the cover body 2. At the
supporting springs 20, holding portions 20a formed in a curved manner so
that they can be held at the corner portions of the lower end side of the
ink cartridge 18 are formed at the front end side thereof.
The engagement portion 15 engaged with the holding spring 16 provided at
the case body 1 side is formed in a manner positioned in the vicinity of
the opening end of the other side wall 2c of the cover body 2.
At the outside surface side of one side wall 1d of the case body 1, as
shown in FIG. 3, there is provided a connector 22 supplied with external
power for driving this printer cleaning device. As shown in FIG. 4, this
connector 22 is electrically connected to the detection switch 13, the
motor drive control circuit section 12, and the control circuit section 11
within the case body 1.
Further, memory is provided in the control circuit section 11, and various
operation modes of this printer head cleaning device are stored therein.
As the operation mode, there are intermittent suction mode for
intermittently driving the motor 10 to allow the suction pump 9 to be
intermittently operative to carry out the intermittent suction, continuous
suction mode for continuously driving the motor 10 to continuously carry
out sucking operation by the suction pump 9, and adjustable suction mode
for driving the motor 10 while allowing the rotational speed thereof to be
adjusted at a fixed period to strengthen or weaken (adjust) the suction
force of the suction pump 9 to carry out suction. In this case, with
respect to the operation mode, by setting the drive state of the motor 10
in various manners, sucking states of the suction pump 9 are diversely
set. Thus, various suction modes can be set.
At the outside surface side of the front wall 1c of the case body 1, as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, there is provided a mode select switch 23 for
selecting any one of various suction modes stored in the control circuit
section 11. This mode select switch 23 is connected to the control circuit
section 11 within the case body 11 as shown in FIG. 4.
The operation for cleaning the printer head of the ink jet printer by using
the printer head cleaning device constituted as described above will now
be described.
Initially, the printer head designated at 31 which is caused to undergo
cleaning will be explained. At the printer head 31, as shown in FIGS. 1
and 3, an injection or jet nozzle 32 for injecting ink is provided at the
lower surface side thereof, and an ink receiving hole 33 for receiving ink
delivered from the ink cartridge 18 is provided at the upper surface side
opposite to the surface where the injection nozzle 32 is provided. At the
injection nozzle 32, as shown in FIG. 3, there are provided a large number
of ink injecting holes 34 having the inside diameter of about 10 .mu.m.
Further, within the printer head 31, there is provided an ink reservoir 35
for storing ink delivered from the ink cartridge 18.
In order to carry out cleaning of the printer head 31, the cover body 2 is
rotationally operated in the direction indicated by arrow X in FIG. 1 with
the hinge portion 3 being as the center to open the opening portion 1a of
the case body 1. Then, the ink cartridge 18 is fitted into the cartridge
accommodating portion 17 constituted within the opened cover body 2. At
this time, the ink cartridge 18 is inserted into the portion between a
pair of supporting springs 20, 20 in the state where the ink supply hole
21 is directed toward the case body 1 side. When the upper surface side
opposite to the side where the ink supply hole 21 is provided of the ink
cartridge 18 is thrust (or forced into the cartridge accommodating portion
17) until it comes into contact with the pressing springs 19, the ink
cartridge 18 is fitted into the cartridge accommodating portion 17 as the
result of the fact that holding portions 20a of the pair of supporting
springs 20, 20 are held by the corner portions of the lower end side. The
ink cartridge 18 fitted within the cartridge accommodating portion 17 is
elastically supported as the result of the fact that the upper surface
side is pressed by the pressing springs 19 and the corner portions of the
lower end side are supported by the supporting springs 20. Namely, the ink
cartridge 18 is supported within the cartridge accommodating portion 17 in
the stable state where shaking is prevented.
After the ink cartridge 18 is accommodated within the cartridge
accommodating portion 17, the printer head 31 is disposed within the case
body 1 as shown in FIG. 1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the printer
head 31 is disposed within the case body 1 in such a manner that the
injection nozzle 32 is directed toward the lower direction and the ink
injecting holes 34 of the injection nozzle 32 are received into the ink
sucking hole 5 of the ink sucking portion 6. At this time, the front end
of the injection nozzle 32, i.e., the opening ends of the ink injecting
holes 34 are caused to be in contact with the water-holding member 7
filled within the ink sucking hole 5. As the result of the fact that the
ink injecting holes 34 are caused to be in contact with the water-holding
member 7 as stated above, drying of the injection nozzle 32 is prevented.
Thus, drying of ink existing within the injection nozzle 32 is prevented.
When the printer head 31 is disposed at the case body 1 thereafter to
rotate the cover body 2 in the direction indicated by arrow Y in FIG. 1
with the hinge portion 3 being as the center so that it is located at the
position where the opening portion 1a of the case body 1 is closed, the
engagement portion 15 is engaged with the holding spring 16. Thus, as
shown in FIG. 2, the cover body 2 is locked with respect to the case body
1 in the state where the case body 1 is closed.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink supply hole 21 of the ink
cartridge 18 is fitted into the ink receiving hole 33 of the printer head
31. When the cover body 2 is rotated until it is located at the position
where it is locked by the case body 1, the detection switch 13 is caused
to undergo pressing operation by the cover body 2 so that it is in ON
state. As a result, power is delivered to the motor drive control circuit
section 12 and the control circuit section 11 through the connector 22.
Then, the mode select switch 23 is operated to select suction mode
corresponding to the state of the printer head 31 caused to undergo
cleaning. When this suction mode is selected, the control circuit section
11 delivers a control signal corresponding to the selected suction mode to
the motor drive control circuit section 12 as indicated by the circuit
diagram of FIG. 4. As a result, the motor 10 starts drive operation in the
state where its rotation is controlled by this motor drive control circuit
section 12 to operate the suction pump 9. When the suction pump 9 is
operated, air of the ink sucking portion 6 is sucked through the ink
suction passage 8. As a result, the ink sucking portion 6 is placed in
negative pressure state. Thus, the injection nozzle 32 of the printer head
31 received with respect to the ink sucking portion 6 is sucked. As the
result of the fact that the injection nozzle 32 is sucked, ink or dust,
etc. existing within the injection nozzle 32 is sucked. Thus, cleaning of
the injection nozzle 32 is carried out.
At this time, the suction pump 9 is driven in the intermittent suction mode
for carrying out intermittent suction, the continuous suction mode for
continuously carrying out the suction operation, or the adjustable suction
mode for adjusting strength of the suction force, which corresponds to the
suction mode selected by the mode select switch 23.
Assuming now that the intermittent suction mode for carrying out
intermittent suction is selected, the injection nozzle 32 is
intermittently sucked. Even in the case where, e.g., solidified ink or
dust, etc. exists within the injection nozzle 32, the injection nozzle 32
can be securely sucked by adjustment of the suction force. Thus, cleaning
of the injection nozzle 32 is carried out.
When the suction pump 9 starts its operation so that the interior of the
printer head 31 is sucked, ink within the ink cartridge 18 is filled
within the ink reservoir 35 of the printer head 31 through the ink supply
hole 21 fitted in the ink receiving hole 33. At this time, old ink
existing within the injection nozzle 32 is sucked. As a result, this old
ink is replaced by new ink delivered from the ink cartridge 18. Thus,
cleaning of the injection nozzle 32 is carried out.
Namely, every time supply of ink into the printer head 31 is carried out,
cleaning of the printer head 31 is conducted.
In this example, ink sucked by the suction pump 9 is sent (delivered) to
the waste liquid chamber 4 through the ink suction passage 8.
Since this printer head cleaning device can accommodate the printer head 31
in the state where the ink injecting holes 34 are caused to be in contact
with the water-holding member 7 even in the state where no power is
supplied through the connector 22, i.e., the cleaning operation or the
filling operation of ink is not carried out, the injection nozzle 32 can
be kept in moderate wet state. Accordingly, hardening of ink existing
within the injection nozzle 32 can be prevented. Thus, this printer head
cleaning device can be used as a storage box for storing the printer head
31 in the usable state at all times.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
Since the printer head cleaning device according to this invention is of
the structure independent of the ink jet printer, there is no possibility
that the printer itself is caused to be large.
Further, since the operation mode of cleaning can be suitably selected in
dependency upon the state of the printer head caused to undergo cleaning,
it is possible to securely carry out cleaning of the printer head.
In addition, even in the state where no cleaning operation is carried out,
the printer head cleaning device can be utilized as a storage box for the
printer head.
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